Stamp paper scamster Abdul Karem Lala Telgi has beaten billionaires when it came to filing income tax returns in 2008. He has filed Rs 6.5 Crore as returns, after which he turned pauper. He still owes Rs 224 Crore as tax.

Telgi is not even worth a penny, and doesn’t even have any income. Telgi has filed Rs 6.5 Crore as taxes, while Nandan Nilekani has paid Rs 5.16 Crore and Azim Premji has paid Rs 4.68 Crore as taxes.

After the payment of these taxed Telgi is not even left with a roof on his head and still has to pay an astronomical figure to the government. “The Income Tax department seized all their property and auctioned it. The money they got from the auction was paid as taxes. Now, he has absolutely no income and is left with nothing. His wife doesn’t even have money to buy medicines. She is ill and staying at her relatives’ house,” said Telgi’s Chartered Accountant I G Nanaiah.

The income tax department has valued the Telgi’s arrears as Rs 230 Crore since 1997. To recover which it seized all his properties in Bangalore, Belgaum and Mumbai. “They IT department seized all his bank balances and fixed deposits. They auctioned the properties in Bangalore and Belgaum. The money generated from the auctions was used as income tax. His properties in Mumbai which include some lodges are not auctioned yet, but are seized. A coffee shop on Brigade Road’s Fifth Avenue is not registered in Telgi’s name and so is not auctioned,” he said.

Even Telgi’s mother’s and brother’s property and the family’s ancestral properties were auctioned. “His brother had come to Bangalore and had no money to even travel back to Belgaum. I gave him Rs 600 for his ticket. His mother too got ill and died without even proper medication. It was a sad death,” he said.

According to the income tax department Telgi still owes Rs 223.5 Crore as taxes, but his CA says that the entire tax to be paid is just Rs 9 Crore of which Rs 6.5 Crore is already paid. “The IT sleuths have miscalculated his assets. He used to deal with stamp papers at the Mumbai Central Post Office where he got three per cent as commission on the sale. But the IT officials have calculated his entire purchase as profit. He had an oil business too in Mumbai and even there they have calculated everything as profit. Even the rental income is termed taxable,” he said.

Telgi has appealed to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. “The hearing will come up next month,” said Nanaiah.